English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters

He was a man of uncompromising moral strength, coming into a
new country with a small stock of goods and supporting five people out
of it in comfort and security at least. He did it by ------------------------------close trading, ----------------------to
be' sure: he could not have done it save by close trading or dishonesty;
and as your grandfather said, a man who, in a country such as
Mississippi was then, would restrict dishonesty to the selling of straw
hats and hame strings and salt meat would have been already locked up by
his own family as a kleptomaniac.

Thank you!